New Brazilian bird species discovery

Described to science only in 2007; this is one of the least known Brazilian Tapaculos. Endemic to the Chapada Diamantina mountain range and seen by just a few world birders… This is the first video available of the species.

From Wildlife Extra:

Newly discovered Brazilian bird species is endangered

A new birds species found in a narrow strip in the Atlantic Forest on the northeastern state of Bahia, Brazil, has already been reported as endangered.

The bird is locally called ‘macuquinho-preto-baiano’, and has been catalogued under the scientific name Scytalopus gonzagai, and has also been given the common name of the mouse-coloured tapaculo.

The bird was identified as a new species by an international team of ornithologists led by Dr Marcos Bornschein, and was initially thought by the researchers to be a common species found in south and southeast Brazil, but two expeditions in 2004 and 2006 made it possible for them to investigate further in the region of Bahia and ascertain that the species was indeed new.

The small mouse-coloured tapaculo – which measures just 12cm in length and weighs in at an average of 15g – was quickly listed as an endangered species, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) stipulates that if a species totals up between 2,500 to 10,000 individuals, it is endangered. Calculations undertaken by the team found that there were around 2,888 of the newly discovered tapaculo.